Govt Prepares Implementation of Child Sex Offender Reforms

The Jakarta Globe – Jakarta. The government is in the process of drafting three regulations to guide authorities in the implementation of a range of tougher penalties for child sex crimes, a minister said on Thursday (20/10).

The move follows the enactment of a regulation partly revising the Law on Child Protection last week, six months after it was proposed by the government. The regulation allows for chemical castration for male offenders via female hormone injections.

The regulation also allows for the electronic chip tracking of child sex offenders after they are released from prison.

Procedures to implement these additional sentences will be stipulated under two government regulations, Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Yembise said on Thursday.

She said her office and several other related ministries are currently preparing the regulations, as well as another regarding the social rehabilitation for perpetrators.

“We’re now sitting down together to discuss the matter. Hopefully we’ll achieve the same perception in the process and there will be no problem arising,” Yohana told reporters.

The regulation also allows the death penalty and life in prison for child sex offenders. They could also face 20 years in prison, five years longer than stipulated under the previous law on child protection.

The government has defended the regulation, believing it would deter perpetrators and suppress what it has declared an extraordinary crime. The House of Representatives concurred amid protests from human rights activists.